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A lot of the times, new business pop up and their owners are so excited about this new venture that they think they need to see quick growth on social media. This mindset may lead them to make some rash decisions such as buying followers or spending too much on ads. And it may look impressive to investors to have gained over 1,000 followers in under a month, but savvy investors know there's more to it than that. And the day-to-day consumer probably won't even pay attention.

Let's get this out of the way right at the front: Do not buy followers. No one knows for sure, but it's estimated that about 15% of social media accounts are bots. That's 15% of about 3 billion. So, if you had every bot on Twitter following you, it would bring your follower count up to about 450 million. Sounds impressive, right? It does right up until you realize that bots aren't buying your products or telling any real people about you. You could make the case that the high number of foll…

Star Trek: Asterisk "Shore Leave"

Vital Information
Series: The Original Series
Episode: S01E15
Air Date: December 29, 1966
Written by: Theodore Sturgeon
Directed by: Robert Sparr

Premise
While on shore leave, the crew starts seeing the things that they're thinking... even if what they're thinking is Alice in Wonderland... Oh, and then Bones dies.

Review
In the beginning, Kirk suffers from a kink in the back. And then he thinks that Spock is massaging his back, but is heavily disappointed to find it was just his hot yeoman. There are definitely no homosexual undertones in that moment. Regardless, the ship comes upon what appears to be a very beautiful Earth-like planet and they decide to take some much-needed shore leave. While Bones and Sulu take a walk along where the fish lives, that's when Bones sees Alice and the White Rabbit. The first sign that Bones ever has that something may be wrong with him.
Soon enough, others are seeing strange apparitions: Sulu finds a pistol lying on the ground; Kirk sees Finnegan, the upperclassman who tormented him at the Academy; Don Juan appears to Yeoman Tonia Barrows; and then Kirk meets Ruth, an old flame, exactly as she was fifteen years ago. What's interesting is that the gun actually fires, Finnegan throws real punches, Don Juan does a fairly good job at attempted rape and Ruth... well, she's a good kisser. These are all real things, not figments or hallucinations.

Except for the antennae. They were total figments.

Meanwhile, Spock, who is still on the ship because, apparently, when Vulcans rest they actually rest, discovers an industrial energy signature that's draining Enterprise's power. Communications flicker out and phasers stop working, and Spock uses Enterprise's last remaining power to beam down to the surface of the planet and investigate. Which was the perfect time to come down because the imaginary things start getting more dangerous! A samurai, a fighter plane, a tiger! Oh, my!

Kirk sends out a message to meet at the beam-out point, and Bones says he'll be right there... right after Yeoman Barrows changes into a princess dress. And Bones peeks in the line of duty.

Mmm... Duty.

When the two of them make it to the beam-out point, they come upon a Black Knight. Bones, however, is convinced that these things aren't real. Whether hallucinations or holograms, he takes on the Black Knight knowing that his lance won't harm him in the slightest. And then it does.

Unfortunately, no one is qualified to pronounce him dead!

Just when Spock is beginning to figure things out, Kirk's old rival, Finnegan, reappears. The rowdy Irishman pulls Kirk away from the crowd after they discover that the Black Knight and Bones had disappeared. Kirk and Finnegan get into a fight and Finnegan totally knocks Kirk out. But then Kirk wakes back up and defeats the academy bully, which brings to him a great sense of accomplishment. That's when Spock comes around and declares that all of these things have been results of wish-fulfillment fantasies.

Kirk finally assembles the rest of the landing party and instructs them not to think of anything. Which is when an old man appears and declares himself the caretaker of the planet. He explains that he didn't know that the crew was unaware of the planet's purpose: to entertain. He is able to read their thoughts and then produce exactly what they're thinking of with a massive industrial factory beneath the surface. Absolutely anything can be manufactured and nothing is permanent. A fact that is made clear when Bones arrives alive and well with two hotties on his arms.

Well, the caretaker offers the use of the planet to the Enterprise crew, but denies them the knowledge of his species or home planet. Kirk calls down the rest of the crew and plans to go back onto the ship... but when Ruth reappears, he changes his mind.

Overall Thoughts
Another classic episode, this one, with the message that "the more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." That is, after all, why the greatest minds of our generation are fascinated by video games. What nerds.

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